Saga bélica

I guess everyone who reads this review has already heard of The Chasm, the band whose mainman, Daniel Corchado, was in another Mexican band for a while. The band was called Cenotaph. That band released their most recent, and also their last, album in 2002. Due to lack of success, the band members didn't feel like continuing on.

From the very first notes, one notices the fact that the band has upped the stakes a notch. The production is much thicker and the music is shown to be non-relenting. The band rampages through the first song on full speed and aggression and the rest of the album doesn't disappoint in that aspect either. The band is very tight and the production adds quite a punch to their playing. Cenotaph's brand of death/thrash is quite brutal and they sound quite like the straightforward parts on The Chasm's latest album Conjuration of the Spectral Empire but with added intensity and without the intricate sense of melody and structure and the romanitc influences that The Chasm possess. There are melodic riffs a plenty but they're much more direct than with The Chasm.

There isn't much variance in the album - though the vocalist changes from his death vocals to thrash screams every now and then - but it is only 38 minutes long so it isn't really needed either. The band speeds through the album with such fury and intensity that you barely even notice. All in all, Saga Belica is a fine slab of metal from the Mexico. It doesn't really beat The Chasm's latest as the best album from that country but at least Saga Belica gives it a good run for its money.